It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Vicky is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I used the sketch over at TGIF Challenges for my layout today - I thought that circle would be the perfect spot for a festive wreath to frame my colourful robin - and went across our tictactoe grid with layers/wreath/bird for my card today. Take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

I used one of my favourite patterns from the Painted Christmas paper pack for the base of my card, added a couple of diecut wreaths, along with a few extra pieces of diecut holly leaves, a bow of glittered organdy ribbon and my sentiment, which I anchored with a robin from the Happy Holly Days stamp set, stamped and coloured with my Stampin' Blends. I added a few garden gems for a little extra sparkle to finish my card:

When it comes to colouring, I'm no expert but I do love it - so theraputic! A little extra stamping on the inside completes my card:

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; a slightly earlier post from me today as I'm going to watch one of the James Juniors play hockey at school this afternoon; not something I get the opportunity to do often, but definitely a benefit of working for yourself that you can flex your hours to enjoy life's simple pleasures! Then the other of my charges is on a late pickup, as he has swim squad training after school. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

HAPPY HOLLY-DAYS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	SEASONAL SWIRLS DIES (£32.00)	WHITE 3/8'' (1 CM) GLITTERED ORGANDY RIBBON (£8.00)	PAINTED CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.10)	EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£7.42)
GARDEN GEMS (£6.50)	SOFT SUEDE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BRONZE & IVORY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CALYPSO CORAL STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I am your host for the month of November and this week I have another colour challenge for you: 

 I am also playing along with Sue's challenge over at Addicted To CAS where the code word is 'circle' as I've used circles on my card today as part of my layout and design - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

The colour scheme for my challenge this week was taken straight from the oh-so-pretty Whimsy and Wonder designer paper. Mossy Meadow and Polished Pink is not a colour combination that shouts 'festive' particularly, but I do rather like it - especially with the addition of metallic silver. I chose one of the non-foiled patterns that has a tiny holly pattern on it and diecut a bunch of circles and added them in a vertically aligned column on my cardfront. I used a solid colour card base as I wanted them to blend in more than stand out against a brighter white, then overlaid them with a contrasting pink banner with my silver heat embossed sentiment, that I anchored with a piece of holly that I stamped, heat embossed, coloured and diecut with a stamp that is rather overlooked in the Whimsical Trees bundle I think:

I also added a simple silver twine bow (maybe a bit too blingy for a CAS card but it's Christmas - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!), before finishing off the inside of my card with a sentiment greeting from the same set and a leftover partial circle- waste not, want not and all that!

I rather like this simple card and I think these colours work surprisingly well together. What do you think? I'd love you to leave me a comment below with your thoughts, or better still play along - I can't wait to see what you create!  

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

Enjoy your day. I have one of the James Juniors home poorly today, so am juggling jobs with nurse duty. Not sure whether I'll manae a creative post tomorrow but will be back for sure on tursday with my TicTacToe post and a reminder that it will be the last day to save in the seasonal sale. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WHIMSY & WONDER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	WHIMSICAL TREES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£47.50)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£26.40)	MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (£7.42)	POLISHED PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£7.42)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.10)
VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	MOSSY MEADOW STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	POLISHED PINK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)

I'm here with a quick post this evening with news of this year's Seasonal Sale that begins this evening at 11pm! During the Seasonal Sale, you can stock up and save 10% on cardstock, 15% on ink pads, and 20% on dies. Build up your collection of crafting basics—and prepare for another year of top-tier projects—with a steal of a deal on paper-crafting products!

 

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and I have a colour challenge for you to work with:

I made a couple of cards to share with you today, both variations on the same theme. Here's the first one - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Peaceful Place - So I had an ulterior motive in choosing today's colour combination. I've had a pack of Peaceful Place Specialty Designer Series Paper in my collection since I did my mini catalogue preorder in August, but had yet to use it. I had a feeling that would be the case; I love these papers, but didn't buy the bundle that features in the Peaceful Place Suite. I chose the colour combination that is found in these papers for this week's challenge because it would both force me to cut into these papers and also I am hoping the gallery will have lots of inspiration for me too! I used a combination of two paper patterns from the pack on each of my cards, one for the main panel and a contrasting or co-ordinating one to frame it. The papers are stunning, with beautiful silver foil detailing. Great for special cards!

Merry Snowflakes Seasonal Label - Fancy fold aside (more about that in a moment), today's cards really are a showcase of these beautiful papers. Apart from some sequins, rhinestones and a mesh ribbon bow, the only other element to my card is a heat-embossed sentiment from the Merry Snowflakes set, in silver on black or white respectively, and cut out with one of the Seasonal Labels Dies. The words of this sentiment seemed to be perfectly suited to the snowy scenes on my card:

 The only other stamping is on the reverses of the card, where I've stamped a further greeting and left space for a personal message:

A Fancy Fold - I thought for today's card I would ring the changes with a fancy fold. I decided on a double box fancy fold because I wanted something with a feature panel and this card is really quite straightforward to create. I had seen this design in an A6 card size on the internet, but adapted the basic principle to suit my own requirements. My finished card measures 6"x6" and easily folds flat for posting, which is a bonus! 

I struggled to photograph this one so well - I'm blaming the dark, winter days that we are experiencing here now - so here's another at an angle to try and capture the sentiment detail of the embossed silver against the white:

If anyone is interested in the measurements I sued to create my version of a double box fancy fold card, then do leave me a message below and I'll add them in to my post (I would write them in now but don't have them to hand). 

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

And here's the second one:

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

So what do you think? Which of today's cards do you prefer and what do you think of today's fancy fold? Please do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day; Ben is on parade with the other army cadets from school at a Remembrance Day parade and service this morning, so this afternoon will be spent completing homework and the like. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PEACEFUL PLACE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	MERRY SNOWFLAKES CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	SEASONAL LABELS DIES (£35.00)	SUBTLE SHIMMER SEQUINS (£6.00)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)	1-1/2" (3.8 CM) METALLIC MESH RIBBON (£7.50)
BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC GRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

Today with my second post I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a recipe challenge:

I used Linda's fabulous sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week for my card layout and went for a really clean design for my card today - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Layering Hugs - The Layering Hugs Dies are perfect for the central one word sentiment on the front of my card today. I cut the background floral diecut in white and then added the individual letters of the word HUGS in Crumb Cake in the same colour as the base. Neutrals? Check. Diecut? Check. One Word Sentiment? Check.

A Subtle Texture - I used the Tasteful Texture Embossing Folder to add texture to my card base layer; the detail is subtle but with the focus on neutrals, it adds an element of interest to this otherwise very clean and uncluttered card. You can see the detail slightly better on the photo below:

Embossing folder? Check.

Finishing Touches - The last element I needed to incorporate into today's design was ribbon or twine. I debated adding a bow, but eventually decided that I would add a simple trio of linen thread and white baker's twine across the centre of my card instead. It emphasises the horizontal sentiment, which is more faithful to Linda's sketch since I stretched my sentiment focal point beyond the skinny visual. I hope she likes it! Ribbon or Twine? Check. That's my recipe complete!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LAYERING HUGS DIES (£26.00)

TASTEFUL TEXTILE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£8.25)

CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£10.25)

LINEN THREAD (£4.75)

This is my first post of a two-post Friday and I'm here with my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday. 

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'National Cookie Day' which is on 4th December. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I used cookie, brown, circles and recipe and this is what I came up with:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Gingerbread & Peppermint - My card front features a piece of the Gingerbread & Peppermint designer series paper with a circular pattern, behind an angled panel that is anchored by a gingerbread cookie, fussy cut from a Memories & More card, and with an added stamped sentiment from the 'What's Cookin' stamp set that gives a hint as to what can be found inside. 

Memories and More - There are no actual cookies inside my card, but there is the next best thing: a recipe for ultimate easy gingerbread! Presentation of my recipe was super easy, as some of the cards included in the Gingerbread & Peppermint Memories & More pack are perfect for noting your favourite holiday recipes. As such, they are perfect not only for memory keeping and recording, but also to create a fun mini-recipe folder like this one. I used two M&M cards; I wrote my ingredients on the first one:

Ultimate Easy Gingerbread - I added a second card, this time writing out the method detailing how to make the gingerbread. I photographed it so that hopefully you can read it and pin it if you'd like to have a go - it's delicious:

I love to bake at Christmas time and I am famed for my iced gingerbread biscuits. Here's a photo of them drying before going into jars for gifting:

Baking gingerbread is one of my favourite things to do during the festive season - although my friends and family usually request the finished product, rather than the recipe!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the Festive Friday Challenge Design team.

Ann Schach

Beth McCullough

Sharon Hashimoto Burkert

Melanie Hungerford

Helen Jennings

Stephanie Lanzalotto

Melva Peters

Jaydee

Diane Evans

Joanne James

Enjoy your morning and I'll be back later with my project for the new challenge over at As You See It. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

GINGERBREAD & PEPPERMINT 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)

GINGERBREAD & PEPPERMINT MEMORIES & MORE CARD PACK (£10.25)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

REAL RED 3/8" (1 CM) SHEER RIBBON (£6.50)

WHAT'S COOKIN' CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)

EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at Less Is More where it's lucky dip week and we are being asked to work with Winter Whites:

I decided to use a trio of diecut Christmas trees to showcase my winter whites - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

I couldn't resist another outing for my Whimsy and Wonder skinny trees, but this time I did at least include one of the other diecut trees in the set so that it didn't feel left out! I find the best way to create an all-white card is to concentrate on adding different elements of texture and/or pattern. To this end, I diecut two trees from (retired) white glimmer paper and diecut the larger tree in white and popped it up on dimensionals with the glimmer paper layered beneath:

I added a silver heat-embossed sentiment that fitted with my sparkly trees to complete my card.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

So does today's card have you dreaming of a white Christmas? I read in the press yesterday that we are in for a hard Winter here in the UK, with heavy snow forecast before the end of this month. I'm hoping that's fake news - a white Christmas is one thing, but heavy snow in November - no thank you!!

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CHRISTMAS TREES DIES (£33.00)

SNOWFLAKE WISHES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£24.00)

METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)

Today I'm sharing a card that uses the current sketch over at Try Stamping on Tuesday that I designed with Nancy's word prompt at Just Us Girls in mind:

I had the perfect focal point to encompass Nancy's 'merry' theme - take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Delicate Baubles Dies - You know how much I love the Christmas tree die in this set; I thought it was time to show you one of the two dies that featured a sentiment (the other is 'Joy' - I'll share that another time). I cut out the 'Merry and Bright' detailed layer in gold foil and backed it with a piece of Evening Evergreen shimmer vellum for some subtle festive shimmer and sparkle.

Ever Eden - I added a panel of foiled green Ever Eden specialty designer series paper to my card base and bordered it with some gold foil stitched scalloped edging cut with one of the Hand Penned Dies. And since 'P is for Patterned Paper' I'm also linking today's card up with the team over at The Alphabet Challenge.

Finishing Touches - Some gold gilded gems and an in-colour gem was all that was needed to complete today's card. 

I love the soothing greens of the Eden's Garden Suite; I love how the foil and the addition of some shimmer makes them perfectively festive too.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I've had a full-on day today, culminating in Parents' Evening for one of the James Juniors. It's amazing how focused teachers can be when each appointment lasts only 5 minutes! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

DELICATE BAUBLES DIES (£33.00)	PENNED FLOWERS DIES (£28.00)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	EVER EDEN 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	2021–2023 IN COLOR SHIMMER VELLUM (£11.25)
EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GILDED GEMS (£6.50)	2021–2023 IN COLOR JEWELS (£6.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and I designed the following sketch for us to work with:

I designed the sketch to have a layer beneath a single focal point, with an overlapping sentiment. Whilst the focal point on the sketch is a circle, you can use any shape you like. Also feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

I have been trying (and failing!) to find the time to play along with the lovely ladies over at Inspired By for several weeks, but when I saw this week's inspiration photo of that welcoming Christmas wreath, I couldn't resist! The fact that I could combine with my sketch was a bonus! Both of their inspiration photos this week feature wreaths, and having had an aborted attempt using wheatgrasses for the first one, I decided to give that up as a bad job and work with this oh-so-pretty Christmas wreath as my inspiration. I actually went on to create two cards, one being slightly less clean and simple than the other. Here's my first clean and simple one:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

I used the leaf wreath in the Seasonal Swirls Dies set for my wreath base, snipping off the leaves to leaves just the twigs. I used the retired Pretty Pines Thinlits for my sprigs of greenery and berries, adding some sponged white ink to my Soft Succulent greenery and some large retired candy dots for berries. I finished with a gingham DSP bow and added a heat-embossed sentiment from the retired 'Arrange A Wreath' stamp set onto a little stitched rectangle of wood-effect paper which seemed to fit the photo. I backed my wreath with a scrap of white wood effect paper, reminiscent of the shiplap in the photo: 

 And that was that - card complete! I decided to make another one, identical save for one additional detail: I switched out the DSP bow for an actual one, tied with gingham ribbon that I had coloured from its original black and white to black and red with the aid of my Stampin' Blends markers:

 That showy, double-looped bow definitely crosses a CAS boundary, hence not adding it to my original card; I do love it though! Here's a close-up: 

So two cards for the price of one today! Which one gets your vote? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SEASONAL SWIRLS DIES (£32.00)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	DECORATIVE MATTE DOTS (£7.50)	SOFT SUCCULENT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)
BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	BLACK & WHITE 1/4" (6.4 MM) GINGHAM RIBBON (£6.50)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

Happy Monday everyone! An early and super-quick post from me today as I take a trip down memory lane with a clean and simple card inspired by a few challenges that caught my eye this week:

I couldn't resist that pink typewriter in the Fusion photo and delved into the retired stamp box to find my 'TapTapTap' stamp set that had the perfect image - take a look:

Do you remember this stamp set? The typewriter meant it was always going to be a keeper for me; for today's card I stamped it in Memento Black and coloured it with my Polished Pink Blends markers. Whilst I love the Fusion sketch too, I decided instead to use the sketch over at AAA Cards and stamped my alphabet of typed letters behind for the horizontal element. I'm also linking up over at CASology where the cue word is 'type' so today's card is right on point.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that I used a typed 'thank you' sentiment on the paper in my typewriter and if you own(ed) this stamp set, will also know that this isn't a sentiment that it includes. Some clever masking and use of my Stamparatus made it easy to create this custom sentiment using other elements of the set - for a more complete explanation, check out this older post.

No visual summary or supplies list today - today's card is simply for your viewing pleasure. I would so love to own a pink retro typewriter just like this one! Enjoy your day; I will be getting together with a bunch of lovely ladies for a class this morning, where we will be making Christmas packaging - fun! Then more class planning and blog posts to follow before I head out on my afternoon school run  - the life of a busy Mum and part-time Stampin' Up! demonstrator is always a full one!

I'll be back tomorrow with another project - my second week hosting our challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Until then, happy stampin'!